ELIMINATING EXCUSES | fitness

Game time!! This week I have a great exericse menu courtesy of Maja Varner. She is a talented engineer that has passion for fitness and health; she’s also a former Cincinnati Bengals cheerleader. I want to thank Maja for her time in filming this video.

Today let’s work the legs with walking lunges. This exercise focuses primarily on the quads, but it is also good for the glutes and hamstrings. Head to the local park or open area near you. For those looking to increase the intensity of this exercise, take dumbells with you (or look for some big rocks at the park). We’ve hit lunges before, but this time we are going to walk with it. So start standing with or without weight in each hand and with your feet together. Lunge forward with your left leg. Your left leg should be bent forming a right angle and your right knee should be slightly off the ground. Now, straighten your left leg thus bringing your right leg forward; then lunge forward with your right leg and your left knee will be slightly above the ground. Keep alternating left and right. For the leg lunging forward, make sure that your knee does not go beyond the tip of the corresponding foot. Aim to have them lined up so that if you were lunging toward a wall, both the tip of your foot and your knee would touch the wall in the same vertical line. Keep your back straight throughout the entire exercise and focus on maintaining good balance.

DO SOMETHIN’!

For those of you looking to be more explosive during your initial steps of a sprint, I have a tight exercise for you: power cleans. You’ll need a barbell and some plates for this one. Find a comfortable weight that you can handle for about 10 – 15 reps. Stand at the midpoint of the barbell and spread your feet a few inches more than shoulder width apart (should be a comfortable stance). Bend down by sticking your butt out and keep your back straight. If you have back or knee pain or a history of back or knee injuries, you might not want to do this exercise; use your discretion. If you decide to this exercise, wear the proper equipment for support where you need it. In this bent position, your knees should not go beyond the tips of your toes and your but should not go below your knees. These two points are critical for making sure that you don’t over stress your knees. Grip the barbell infront of your legs or slightly outside of the width of your legs. Now we are ready to clean!

Come up by straightening out your legs, as you do so, the weight will naturally come up with you. Once the weight passes your knees, begin to pull it upwards with your arms and rotate your arms around the barbell so that your elbows are pointing downward. As you rotate your arms around the barbell, squat down a bit so that you are under the weight. Once you have completed the rotating and the semi-squat, stand up with the weight keeping your knees slightly bent. Whew, that’s 1 rep! This was one of my favorite exercises for improving speed and explosiveness when I played football. The technique might take some time to grasp. Be patient. Don’t use too much weight beacuse you’ll sacrifice form and risk injuring yourself.

So things to remember:
1) keep your upper back straight and sligthly arch your lower back to stick you butt. If you feel any discomfort in your back while doing this exercise, stop immediately.
2) look forward and slightly upward to help you maintain good form
3) your feet should not come off the ground during the exercise
4) listen to your body: if something doesn’t feel right, stop!

I recommend that you stretch and then do a warm-up set with 6 – 8 reps. Then, hit 4 sets of 10 – 15 reps with 60 seconds rest in between each set.

DO SOMETHIN’!!

This week I want to answer some of the fitness and nutrition questions that I have received recently. Please continue to post your questions and comments; and I will get back to you.

Question:
How can I work my calf muscles?

Answer part 1:
The standard calf raise is excellent for working your calves and simple to do: stand with your feet no more than about 9 inches apart and raise yourself to the balls of your feet. You should feel your calves doing the work to move your body up and down. As you come down, do not let your heels touch the ground; keep them no less than about 1/2 inch (13 mm) above the ground. By doing so, you keep tension on your calf muscles forcing them to work harder. To add variety to this exercise and to focus on different parts of the muscle, adjust the position of your feet.

To focus on the inside of your calves, put your heels together (or up to 2 inches/5 cm apart) and point your toes outward so that your feet form about a 90 degree angle. Now do your calf raises. If you spread your feet too wide, you might loose your balance.

To focus on the outside of your calves, reverse the position of your feet by putting you toes together (or up to 2 inches/5 cm apart) forming about a 90 degree angle with your feet. Now do your calf raises.

As always, stretch and warm-up before you exercise. Rememer to drink pleny of water.

Answer part 2:
DO SOMETHIN’!

Yesterday, we stretched the quads. Today, I want to show you a great quadricp exercise that can follow your stretching: lunges. This exercise is great for tone and definition. You’ll need some weight for this exercise and a bit of room also. Start out standing with your feet together and a weight in each hand. Lunge forward with your left leg. Keep your back straight as you lunge forward. Your left leg should be bent at the knee at about a 90 degree angle. Your right leg is extended but bent at the knee and about 2-4 inches from the ground. Now step back with your left leg bringing yourself back to the starting position for this exercise. Repeat these same steps with your right leg. Keep your back straight throughout the entire exercise and do your best to maintain your balance. No need to rush through these. If you feel any pain or discomfort during the exercise, I recommend that you stop the exercise and address the root cause of your pain.

So, excuses? Huh? What? None! DO SOMETHIN’!

I had a request for more quadricep exercises, so I’ll go ahead and start the week with a quadricep exercise. This exercise is called a wall sit. As the name indicates, you lean against the wall as if you were sitting in a chair. Bend your legs so that they form a 90 degree angle. That’s it! Simple to do but very effective since this exercise keeps the muscles under constant tension. See how long you can hold this position. If you have any pain or discomfort from bending your knees, I recommend that you don’t do this exercise. Now, your excuse = eliminated . . . DO SOMETHIN’!!!

Try this simple leg exercise that’s great for strengthening and toning the quadriceps. Sit at the edge of a chair so that none of your leg is resting on the seat of the chair. Your leg should be straight and fully extended with your toes pointing forward. Your foot should be about 6 inches (15cm) above the ground and lift your leg until it is slightly above parallel to the floor. Keep your leg straight (no bending at the knee) for the duration of the exercise. Work both legs. Doesn’t it feel good?!?!